


from this day forward

by Emlee_J



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Brief Descriptions of Medical Procedures, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Haikyuu!! Manga Spoilers, Humor, Light Angst, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Pro Volleyball Player Hinata Shouyou, Pro Volleyball Player Kageyama Tobio
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-16
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2021-02-07 11:34:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21457381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emlee_J/pseuds/Emlee_J
Summary: With mounting horror, as the reality of the fact that Hinata has unwittingly justeatenhis engagement ring starts to sink in, Tobio buries his face in his hands and groans, long and loud into his palms.This is a disaster. This is definitely the worst thing that has ever happened to him. This is worse than beingbenched.He has poisoned his boyfriend. Are engagement rings poisonous? Probably. At the very least they shouldn’t beingested.-In which Kageyama Tobio thinks it will be very cool and suave and romantic to propose by putting the ring inside a meat bun.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Comments: 98
Kudos: 1072





	from this day forward

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文-普通话 國語 available: [从今天起](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22440151) by [OnigiriFantuan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnigiriFantuan/pseuds/OnigiriFantuan)

> This is in honour of an old friend of mine who was proposed to with the ring inside an orange and lived to tell the tale.

It’s a fact of life that when you move into a new place, there will always be at least one box that remains unpacked for months. Not containing anything of huge importance, it exists purely to sit in a room, getting in the way and underfoot for weeks until someone eventually snaps and finally decides to deal with it.

It’s a rare day off on a Friday when Hinata stubs his toe on the box in the corner of their bedroom for the umpteenth time, fresh from a shower and not looking where he was going as he towelled off his hair. He has no idea what’s in it, and it’s been there since they moved in six months ago. All he knows is that it’s heavy and that it has Kageyama’s name scrawled on the side in marker so it’s his problem.

Which is how Tobio ends up where he is now, sitting cross-legged on the bedroom floor and ripping off the tape sealing the box. The side of his face still smarts from where Hinata had flung his wet towel at him with a soggy _thwap_ and yelled at him to deal with it already. Tobio had tried to make Hinata do it, as it was always him tripping over it, but then Hinata pointed out his name on the side and Tobio had to concede defeat.

He can’t even remember what’s inside.

Unfolding the box flaps, Tobio’s brow furrows as the contents reveal themselves to be… notebooks.

They’re small and slim, like classroom workbooks, each one labelled with a date range and as Tobio lifts one out a lightbulb goes off in his memory – they’re his old volleyball journals.

He’d started documenting his play when he was in elementary school. A classroom assignment for kanji practice, he thinks, asking them to write down what they did at the weekend. Well, all Tobio did was play volleyball, so that’s what he wrote about. They’d had to do it for a month, and Tobio can vaguely remember the teacher chastising him for writing about the same thing every week. Apparently it was still only about one subject, no matter how much he had protested serves and spikes were _different_ subjects, and he’d gotten a bad grade, but he had found it surprisingly helpful.

At first, his notes were very basic and brief, but over time they became steadily more detailed with reflections and plans for improvement. He’d kept the ritual up until he graduated high school, until suddenly in the professional world there were managers and coaches and just other _people_ around to document his progress for him. Tobio misses it, sometimes, and he ponders taking it back up again as flips through the pages of his first middle school book idly. If nothing else, it was a good way to relax.

There’s a period, in the middle school books, where the notes suddenly drop off temporarily in the amount of detail. Tobio heaves a sigh, running one thumb up the edge of the pages as he leafs through. It’s been years, and the memory of his teammate’s backs turned away from him is far away and dim, the sting diminished to nothing but a whisper of regret, but there’s something a little uncomfortable, seeing his fourteen-year-old self’s notes become brisk and to the point. Frustration leaks from the pages, in the hurried scrawl of barely legible kanji. In those days, Tobio had finished most practice sessions too wound-up to write anything meaningful, and a lot of entries feature notes on his teammate’s failings rather than his own.

Tobio flips through the book a little faster, until he stops on a page that is suddenly completely full. It’s an abrupt change, a sharp contrast to the weeks of entries consisting entirely of only a few sentences that had proceeded it.

The corner of Tobio’s mouth ticks up as he settles back to read this page properly, even though he remembers this day with crystal clarity. It’s the first day of his final middle school tournament – the day he met Hinata. The entry is comprised of notes about his own play as usual, but then instead of griping about how badly his teammates had played like he had before, the rest of the entry is essentially a rant about Hinata’s game instead. His name isn’t used, because fourteen-year-old Tobio couldn’t remember it, so instead he’s used a variety of colourful descriptors (adult Tobio quite likes _‘the jumpy orange goblin’_).

The entry ends with a sentence that was actually underlined, Tobio had apparently felt so strongly about it:

_He says he’s gonna stay on the court longer me? It’s never gonna happen!_

Tobio huffs out a laugh. He can remember it clearly, feeling so indignant at this bold declaration from this kid from this no-name school and yet also finding himself rising to the challenge. He had been completely arrested by Hinata’s presence even then. He can’t remember a single face of anyone else on Hinata’s team, but he can remember what Hinata himself had done for every second of that thirty minute game.

Curiously, he checks the date written at the top corner of the page, wondering just how long ago this was exactly.

Tobio chokes on air when he sees it, reading over the numbers twice more before dropping the notebook and scrabbling for his phone where he had dumped it on the bed. The date on the lock screen shines back at him - a perfect match.

Ten years. It had been ten years _today._

Getting clumsily to his feet, he stumbles from the bedroom to the living area. He just- he just needs to see Hinata now, suddenly, his mind whirling and heart flipping over.

_Ten years._

Hinata is in the small kitchenette to the side of the living space. It isn’t big, but it had everything Hinata needed to cook and they’d both liked the open plan when they viewed the flat nearly a year ago. Cooking is one of the very few things Tobio doesn’t bother starting a competition over anymore. Although he will insist until his last breath that he can cook just fine, thank-you very much, he has to concede that the years Hinata spent in Brazil has definitely resulted in him becoming the better chef. If for no other reason than he can make more than three different meals.

Hinata’s standing in front of the stove, stirring something in a saucepan with a little frown of concentration on his face and Tobio just stands there to drink him in for a bit.

A decade has done a lot for Hinata – he’s still short, and his hair is still orange and unruly (it’s getting a little long, actually, starting to curl over his ears), but he’s stocky instead of scrawny, stands with confidence rather hunching with nervous energy. There are freckles now, permanently stained darker by Brazilian sunshine, splattered over his strong arms and across his nose.

Sometimes, he barely resembles the skinny little kid he was in middle school, until his eyes glint and he smiles wide and suddenly he looks like a teenager all over again.

(Tobio remembers when he first noticed Hinata wasn’t a boy anymore, when he saw him for the first time after his return from Brazil - tanned and more muscular and with a _jawline_. He’d just about had a heart attack.)

Seemingly sensing that he’s being stared at (ogled), Hinata turns to face Tobio fully, tilting his head with curiosity. “Kageyama?”

Tobio sucks in a sharp breath and crosses the distance in a few long strides, cupping Hinata’s jaw and tilting his head up for a kiss.

Hinata hums appreciatively against him, turning his body more to improve the angle. When Tobio pulls away, he quirks his eyebrows up with a teasing smile. “Hello to you too,” he says, amused. “What was in the box?”

“Books,” Tobio murmurs against his skin, chasing for another kiss.

“I didn’t know you could read,” Hinata says when they break apart, and starts giggling when Tobio jabs him in the side.

“Can’t you come up with any new material?” Tobio grouses, burrowing his nose into red hair. Hinata had watched the Harry Potter films in English a couple of years ago to help him improve his grasp of the language, and had found that line so funny he now uses it at any available opportunity. “They were my old journals.”

“Oh! Your volleyball diary? That explains why it was so heavy… where did you put ‘em?”

“Don’t- don’t call it a _diary,” _Tobio protests, “and I’ll find somewhere later.”

Hinata looks mightily unimpressed at this, so Tobio cuts him off before he can start whining. “What are you making?”

“Grilled beef,” Hinata says, as Tobio makes appreciative noises into his hair, “just getting started on the beans.”

Tobio’s stomach starts rumbling. This is one of his favourites.

Hinata snorts and swats at him with a tea towel. “Go and put your diaries away, I can’t finish anything with you draped over me.”

Tobio isn’t keen, he’s still feeling warm and fuzzy and oddly affectionate since discovering he’s known Hinata for ten whole _years_ today but he does as asked. After making a show of complaining about it, obviously.

Dragging the box of journals into the living room, Tobio starts slotting them into their one singular bookcase. For all of Hinata’s teasing, neither of them read much – the shelves are full of nutrition books, manga in a variety of languages and any notable issue of Volleyball Monthly (so, all of them.)

It occurs to Tobio, as he starts to come up with more creative ways to stack the journals so that they’ll all fit on the shelf he’s chosen, that Hinata may have realised the significance of today’s date as well. He hasn’t said anything, or acted strangely, but he _was_ making one of Tobio’s favourite dinners, and it’s one he has to go out specially to buy ingredients for.

Tobio taps a journal volume against his palm in thought. Hinata could be sneaky sometimes, wanting to surprise him. His favourite dinner, cooked specially, and then something else maybe?

He looks over his shoulder at Hinata, who’s rummaging in the fridge, trying to analyse his body language. He looks normal, in a good mood, but not particularly thrumming with excitement. Still… Tobio worries his bottom lip with his teeth. If Hinata _did_ know the date, would he be expecting a gesture from him too? He only knew accidentally because of the journals, but was he supposed to _know?_

Tobio scowls, mouth pursing. This won’t do. He can’t let Hinata be the only one with a romantic gesture planned tonight. Even if it’s last minute, he’s going to come up with one too, and not only will Hinata not be able to accuse him of forgetting, but he’s also going to admit Tobio’s is _better_. Because of course it will be, naturally.

Ramming the last of the journals onto the shelf and tossing the now empty box in the vague direction of the recycling, Tobio trots back into the bedroom to fetch his phone. Flopping onto the sofa, he opens the internet browser and glares at the search bar for a long minute before eventually tapping in _‘romantic gestures’_. He just needs a bit of inspiration.

A flurry of results pops up, and Tobio scrolls through them idly, nothing immediately jumping out at him. Most of them are far too cheesy anyway, or require more than two hours of preparation. Huffing, he changes it to _‘the most romantic gesture’_. You know, just to be clear.

The screen refreshes with new results and Tobio sits up a little straighter. There’s a selection of articles and videos, but they all have one theme in common.

Proposing.

Tobio tilts his head and gnaws on the inside of his cheek. No, that’s ridiculous. He was thinking of an easy to come up with on short notice surprise, not… not a marriage proposal. That’s too much.

Or… is it?

Tobio lets his head drop back against the back of the sofa, tapping his thumb against his phone screen in thought.

They’ve never talked about anything resembling marriage, although Tobio is fairly sure Hinata finds the concept itself appealing. A few of their old classmates from school had gotten married, and Hinata had always seemed pleased when he told Tobio the news (not that Tobio cared much.)

They hadn’t really talked about the future much at all. It was just sort of… _implied_ that this was _it_ for them. It started in volleyball – the world stage, together. And now, in the last year or so, in life too. They lived together. They played together. They did pretty much everything together.

Tobio lets his eyes slide back over to Hinata in their small open kitchen, getting steadily more mess over his apron. Labels float up in his mind’s eye – rival, spiker, best friend, boyfriend, partner… _husband?_

Tobio’s heart flips. He likes it, if he’s honest. He really, really likes it.

It had been Hinata who had been the braver of the two of them back then to move their relationship from friendship to where they are now – surely it’s Tobio’s turn now, to be brave.

He sits up again and checks the time on his phone. It’s probably not that late, Hinata normally starts dinner early… four in the afternoon, good. He has time. 

“I’m going out!” He announces as he gets to his feet and darts around the flat collecting his jacket, wallet and shoes.

“Huh? Where are you going?” Hinata asks, bewildered, sticking his head from the around the fridge door, a slab of beef in his hands.

“To the… uh… the store!” Tobio replies, very convincingly, as he shoves on his shoes.

“… The store. Now?” Hinata frowns, “what for? I went this morni-“

Tobio cuts him off with a quick kiss, pulling on his jacket. “Just need to get something quickly, I won’t be long,” he promises.

“Okay…” Hinata squints, still looking suspicious.

“Your beans are burning,” Tobio tells him, causing the shorter man to whirl back around to his cooking with a curse, and he takes the opportunity to escape the flat.

* * *

It had taken some frantic searching on Google Maps to find a jewellery store close enough that it would still be open by the time Tobio got there, but he managed it. Fifteen minutes before it was due to close he had burst through the door, panting, and frightening the living daylights out of the shop assistant when he had demanded to see the rings.

“I, uh… of course sir, what sort of ring were you looking for?” She asks, once she had composed herself.

“The, umm, the uh…” Tobio pauses for a second to catch his breath. “For um, proposing,” he mumbles, suddenly feeling rather embarrassed now the adrenaline from his mad dash from the train station had worn off.

“Oh!” The assistant claps her hands together in excitement. “Of course! Please, right this way.”

Tobio's led to a very long glass cabinet filled with more rings than he had ever seen, of every possible colour and design and most of them with an array of glittering gemstones. The shop assistant babbles away in his ear, excitedly pointing out the more popular designs, and Tobio starts to feel his head spin a bit. He hadn’t thought this part through (he hadn’t thought _any_ of this through, he was very much just winging it and hoping to come out on top with a fiancé to boot.)

“I don’t, umm, none of these,” he decides, waving his hand over what comprised about ninety percent of the display case. “No… no stones or anything. Just something plain.”

“Plain?” The assistant repeats, looking extremely disappointed.

Tobio nods firmly. He really had absolutely no idea what to buy here, had never been in a jeweller’s in his life and he had had no idea that rings came in about five thousand different designs, but if he knew one thing it was Hinata. And he knew Hinata owned exactly zero jewellery, pretty much no accessories at all except for sunglasses and hats, and that he would probably like something simple instead.

“Yes. Just… just a band, please.”

The shop assistant looks like she very much wants to protest, but after a quick glance at the clock on the wall (ten minutes until closing) she nods and leads Tobio to the end of the case where the stone-less rings were held.

Tobio picks a slim dark silver band, with a thin thread of gold running through the middle - it had reminded him of the design of their Karasuno team strip. With two minutes to spare before closing, the ring was paid for, packed in a velvet box, placed in the fanciest shopping bag Tobio had held in his life, and then the shop assistant was wishing him good luck as the bell tinkled behind him as the door to the shop swung shut.

Tobio had spent most of the train ride back in a sort of daze (he had just bought an _engagement ring_. He was going to _propose_), and it was only when he stepped off the train at the station nearest the flat that it occurred to him he had no idea what to do _now._

Staring down at the posh bag, he swings it idly from his fingertips as his brow creases in thought. Now what? Hide the ring and ask Hinata after dinner? The traditional down-on-one-knee? But that would probably require some of speech, and Tobio was terrible at those. Unless they were volleyball related.

Pulling out his phone, he was scrolling through the search results page he had had up earlier for an idea when a delicious smell wafted from the local convenience store and stopped him in his tracks.

Tobio’s stomach rumbles as he stares at the fresh meat buns on the rack just visible through the open door. If there was one thing he missed about being a teenager, it was being able to eat them whenever he wanted, because being an adult and a professional athlete meant a strict diet. And a strict diet left very little room for greasy dumplings.

Although… something about the smell was causing a little light bulb of an idea to start blinking away in his head. Maybe it was the nostalgia (or maybe he was just hungry), but the first thing he and Hinata had eaten together was meat buns. Admittedly they had been shared with the whole high school team, but still. Meat buns on a sloping street in the twilight after a long hard practice… Tobio misses those evenings.

He’s stepping through the door and purchasing two before can decide otherwise.

Twenty minutes later, he’s standing outside his front door, one hand holding a bag of meat buns and the other hand holding a sleek shopping bag with a very expensive ring inside. Tobio looks between his two very different purchases, trying to puzzle out how to make this work. And he probably has to do it out here because Hinata’s dense but even he’s not oblivious enough to not notice Tobio walking in with junk food. Also he’s nosy.

So. He wants the nostalgia, the question, the _surprise_…

He’s got it. 

Crouching on the ground (and fervently hoping none of their neighbours come along), Tobio takes out the ring box from its posh bag and opens it with a quiet snap. Then, he reaches into the convenience store bag and takes out one of the meat buns. Carefully, precisely, he presses the ring through the dough and into the meaty centre. It takes a bit of pinching, but he eventually manages the close the hole left behind. Examining his handiwork, he nods to himself and replaces the meat bun, making sure to put it on top so he knows which is which.

This is perfect. He’ll offer the bun to Hinata, who will take a bite and spot the ring, and then all Tobio has to do is ask the question after Hinata plucks it out. Easy. He doesn’t have to come up with a speech, or get on one knee, or anything else embarrassing. It’s nostalgic, it’s a surprise, and it’s very romantic. Tobio can feel a wobbly smile spread across his face and he has to work to smother it before he gives away his excitement.

Stuffing the posh bag into his pocket so it’s out of sight, he unlocks the door and steps through to come face to face with Hinata.

“There you are!” His partner exclaims, looking exasperated, and a bit worried. “Where did you _go_, Kyoto?”

“I went to the store,” Tobio replies, making a little shooing motion with his free hand so he can actually make it into the entryway.

“Yeah, and you were gone for an _hour_, what on Earth did you- are those meat buns?” Hinata asks, his attention immediately drawn from Tobio’s lengthy absence to his food in his hands.

Tobio tugs the bag away from Hinata’s nosy, greedy little fingers. “Yep.”

“You… went to the store, for an hour, to get _meat buns?_”

“I had a craving,” Tobio tries, toeing off his shoes and trying to remove his jacket one handed.

Suspicious brown eyes flick from the bag to Tobio and back again. “What, did you go and get ‘em from Sakanoshita or something?”

“There was a queue,” Tobio lies, ducking around Hinata and placing the bag on the counter temporarily so he can shuck off his jacket.

Hinata raises an eyebrow at him.

“A long queue. Look, do you want one or not?” Tobio snaps, taking the meat bun intended for Hinata and waving it under his nose.

He can see the war in Hinata’s eyes between wanting to ask more questions and also wanting to eat his greasy treat.

“I made dinner,” Hinata says in protest. “And we’re supposed to be on a diet.” He says this, but his eyes have never left the greasy paper housing the bun.

“We can cheat, every now and then,” Tobio says. Surprisingly, although Tobio has always eaten well, it’s Hinata who’s more into nutrition out of the two of them. Tobio’s interest in food starts and ends with the taste, mainly, but Hinata really gets into protein levels and fibre percentages and the like. Since going pro, it can be very hard to tempt Hinata to eat something not completely nutritious. He shakes the bun. “I’ll eat both if you don’t want one,” he goads.

“Okay, fine!” Hinata relents, taking the food. “Thank-you,” he says, a wide smile spreading over his face as he starts to peel off the wrapping.

“You’re welcome,” Tobio says, grabbing his own bun and herding Hinata to the sofa, his heart starting to thud in his chest. Okay, that was hard part. Now comes the _harder_ part, which is getting his words out once Hinata finds the ring. Thankfully, Hinata doesn’t question Tobio’s insistence to sit on the sofa (which is a relief because his knees are starting to feel a little shaky), and they sink down onto the cushions.

Tobio has to stare at the floor while he eats his own bun, lest he give the game away by staring raptly at Hinata. He strains his ears as he chews, waiting for the gasp, or the curious noise, or the question.

It isn’t long at all before there’s a crinkle of a wrapper being scrunched and Hinata exclaiming:

“Ahhh, that was good! I wish we could eat those more often!”

Tobio’s head twists so sharply a muscle in his neck twinges as he watches Hinata lick greasy residue off his fingers. The bun is gone. And Hinata is not holding a ring. Tobio’s heartbeat ramps up. This isn’t following the script. “Did- did you eat it?” He asks urgently, eyes sweeping over Hinata and all over the sofa, looking for the glint of the ring that must’ve fallen out. Hinata, being an idiot, must not have noticed.

“The bun? Yeah, of course I… Kageyama, what are you doing?”

Tobio ignores the question as he lifts Hinata’s leg to search the sofa cushion underneath. “_All of it?_”

“Would do you mean? What, did you want some of it? You’ve got your ow- _hey!”_ Hinata breaks off into an indignant squawk as Tobio shoves him off the sofa so he can lift the seat cushion properly and search underneath with increasing mania. “_Kageyama!_”

Tobio is starting the feel dread curl cold and heavy in the pit of his stomach as he drops the cushion and falls to his knees. Maybe on the floor? Stupid Hinata, ruining his incredibly romantic proposal - all he had to do was take a bite and spot the ring, was that so hard?

“_Oi,_ hey, Kageyama!”

Tobio ignores Hinata, who has clambered back to his feet and is knocking his knuckles against the back of Tobio’s skull. They don’t have carpets, so he should’ve heard the ring land if it had fallen to the floor… but maybe it rolled under the sofa? … No, there’s nothing under the sofa but dust and one lonely sock.

“_Tobio!_ What are you _doing?”_ Hinata demands, leaning down to shove his face in Tobio’s, commanding his attention. He’s started to sound annoyed now, under all the bafflement.

Swallowing thickly, Tobio sits back on his ankles to look up at his boyfriend. Something like panic is starting to spread through him, raising the hairs on his arms and sending a cold bead of sweat down his spine. He’s sure, absolutely positive, that he gave Hinata the bun with the ring in, and now the bun is eaten, and there is no ring. Which means…

“When you… ate the bun…” Tobio starts slowly, his voice quiet and deadly serious. He has to stop a take a deep breath before he can continue.

Hinata makes a little ‘go on’ gesture, looking incredibly confused.

“Was there anything… _hard_, in it?”

“Hard?”

“… Yeah.”

“… No?” Hinata is now looking at him like he’s sprouted a second head. “It was a meat bun. I ate it. What is going on?” He’s starting to look a little concerned, which, Tobio thinks, is appropriate considering what has almost certainly just happened. Hinata's meat bun has been eaten, and his own half-eaten bun is sitting, very ringless, on the sofa forgotten. Which can only mean-

With mounting horror, as the reality of the fact that Hinata has unwittingly just _eaten_ his engagement ring starts to sink in (and really, Tobio should not be so surprised, the man inhales his food), Tobio buries his face in his hands and groans, long and loud into his palms.

This is a disaster. This is definitely the worst thing that has ever happened to him. This is worse than being _benched_. He has poisoned his boyfriend. Are engagement rings poisonous? Probably. At the very least they shouldn’t be _ingested._

He feels small hands curl around his wrists, trying to tug his hands away from his face.

“Tobio?” Hinata’s voice is insistent, worried.

Heaving a deep breath to bolster what little courage he has left, Tobio removes his hands from his face and plants them on his partner’s shoulders.

“We need to go to the hospital.”

“We need to _what?_”

* * *

If you were ask anyone who had met the two of them, they would tell you it’s Kageyama with the temper. Tobio cannot deny this, he is easily frustrated and sometimes quick to snap (although with age has come a slightly longer fuse), and in comparison Hinata lets things roll off him a bit more easily. He still gets cross, still shouts, but generally speaking once he’s yelled about it for a bit, Hinata’s anger tends to fizzle out.

That’s when he’s annoyed. But now Hinata isn’t annoyed, he’s absolutely _furious_.

Tobio will never tell anyone this, not even under pain of death, but Hinata is just a teensy bit terrifying when he’s really angry.

They’re sitting in the back of a taxi, en route the local hospital’s emergency department. Hinata hasn’t said a single word since they’d left the flat. At first he had been bewildered, then shocked after Tobio had hurriedly explained what had happened and after a quick reassurance that no, he wasn’t going to die (Tobio doesn’t think), it was like watching a storm cloud eclipse the sun.

Hinata had stormed off to their bedroom, throwing his apron to the ground in his wake, slamming the door behind him, the hinges creaking with the force. Tobio had winced at the noise, shuddering out a shaky breath before scooping up his phone to order a taxi. It was very muffled, but he could just about hear Hinata’s rough yelling. Shouting into a pillow probably, he did that sometimes.

Hinata had emerged shortly after, gathering the necessities and shoving on his shoes.

“Taxi should be ten minutes,” Tobio had offered, trying to keep his voice level. He really doesn’t want an argument right now. Hinata can scream at him all he wants later, but first he just wants to make sure he’s okay.

“Great,” Hinata had bitten out, “fantastic.” His face was still thunderous, voice like steel.

He hadn’t said anything since, and although he hadn’t protested Tobio accompanying him, he was doing his very best to pretend he didn’t exist.

The stormy silence continued throughout the rest of the journey, and into the hospital where Hinata had stomped up to the front desk to check himself in, and all throughout the agonisingly _long_ wait before a nurse was calling Hinata’s name.

She takes Hinata’s vitals and asks a few questions – _does he feel sick? No. Any stomach cramps? No. Any other pain or discomfort? No._

Tobio hovers off to the side as the nurse jots down the last of her notes. He’s a little relieved that Hinata doesn’t seem to be in any immediate danger, though the ongoing silent treatment is starting to wear thin on his own nerves. It wasn’t like he did this on purpose, and considering how calm everyone in the hospital seems to be, it’s probably a relatively easy fix. Concern and irritation are bubbling up inside him and he can just feel an argument starting to brew.

“Am I poisoned?” Hinata interrupts suddenly before the nurse turns to leave. A shade of worry has passed over his face, dimming the anger slightly.

Tobio’s eyes flit to the nurse sharply.

“No, no,” she laughs, waving a hand in a reassuring gesture. “Rings hardly ever have any poisonous substances. What metal was it?” She directs this last question at Tobio.

Hinata still isn’t looking at him.

“Uhh… platinum and gold,” Tobio offers, after unsticking his tongue from the roof of his mouth. He’s pretty sure that’s what the assistant had said – Tobio can vaguely remember her saying it would be fairly resistant to wear and tear, something good for a chronic klutz like Hinata. Or a trip down an intestine.

“Ohh, lucky boy,” the nurse says to Hinata, a bright, teasing smile on her face.

Hinata’s responding smile is like ice.

“Well,” the nurse clears her throat, her smile slipping off her face to be replaced with unease. (_Sorry, I know he’s creepy like this, _Tobio thinks silently at her.) “Neither of those will cause any damage,” she says, now all politeness and formality. “If you wouldn’t mind waiting, the doctor should be with you shortly.”

“Lucky?” Hinata mutters when the door clicks shuts as the nurse leaves.

Tobio opens his mouth to say something, a biting retort, probably, but he doesn’t get a sound out before Hinata has whirled around in his chair to face him, eyes flashing a furious amber. _And oh, here it comes_, Tobio thinks as he takes in Hinata’s angrily twisted face and feels a deep scowl crease his brow in return.

Before either of them can start shouting, however, there is a knock on the door and a middle-aged man steps through.

“Evening! I understand one of you has swallowed a ring?”

Tobio can hear Hinata’s teeth grating in the immediate silence.

“Me,” Hinata says eventually, wrenching his gaze away from Tobio.

“Well then, that’s not how we want a proposal to go is it?” The doctor laughs, clearly not reading the incredibly tense atmosphere and gesturing for Hinata to stand. “Come on, let’s get you to x-ray and we’ll see what we can do for you.”

Tobio is a little relieved to see some of the angry tension leave Hinata’s outline as he follows the doctor through the door, the older man giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder. Tobio hovers for a moment, unsure whether he should follow, before the nurse pokes her head back in and gestures for him to follow her. They go in a different direction than Hinata and the doctor did, towards the wards.

“Might as well wait here, as your partner’s going to be admitted,” she says, pushing open a door to a small room with a hospital bed. Tobio notes someone has already scribbled Hinata’s name on the chart attached to the bedframe. “Don’t worry,” she continues, taking in Tobio’s tense expression, “he’s going to be fine, this sort of thing happens all the time.”

“Really?” Tobio says grumpily, disbelieving. He sits heavily in the room’s one chair with a loud puff of a sigh, folding his arms over his chest. “People eat their engagement rings _all the time?” _

“Yep,” the nurse replies with a wink, “you are not the first person to put the ring in food, or a glass, and you certainly won’t be the last.”

“O-oh,” Tobio mumbles, rubbing the back of his neck and suddenly feeling terribly embarrassed.

Thankfully, he’s swiftly allowed to wallow in his mortification as the nurse leaves the room, leaving him mercifully alone. He shifts his hand from behind his neck to drag it slowly down his face instead, something between a growl and whine pressed into his palm.

He’s still annoyed with how angry Hinata is with him (he really didn’t mean for this happen!), and he’s still worried, no matter how much the staff tell him it’s going to be okay. But most of all, he’s still thinking back to when he told Hinata he’d swallowed an engagement ring and Hinata hadn’t seemed particularly… excited? And okay, yes, to be fair he had just been told he’d swallowed a metal object, but _still._ It was an _engagement_ ring, wasn’t he supposed to be just a little bit... happy?

Tobio bites his lower lip so hard the colour bleeds out. Maybe he had it wrong, maybe this wasn’t something Hinata had wanted at all, and now he’d fucked up what they had as well as sent his boyfriend to the hospital.

There’s not much time to dwell, however, as it’s not long at all before Hinata himself comes into the room, accompanied by a different nurse. He’s changed out of his clothes, which he’s holding a vaguely folded pile in his arms, wearing a set of what looks like hospital pyjamas – white with little green spots. Tobio has a half a second to think he looks cute before the pile of clothes are flung into his face.

Tobio splutters, pulling Hinata’s shirt free from where it had ended up wrapped around his head, and was just about to start hollering _‘dumbass’_ at his partner (who was clambering onto the bed and still not looking at him) when there was a knock on the door and the doctor came in.

“Well, I have good news and bad news,” the doctor declared once Hinata and Tobio had stopped glaring at each other long enough to pay attention.

Tobio’s stomach clenched. Bad news? What was the bad news?

“The bad news is that you definitely swallowed the ring,” the doctor says, and he flips a clipboard around to show a print out of an x-ray of Hinata’s torso. Tobio’s always been a bit useless with biology, but even he knows that white on an x-ray is supposed to mean bones and even he can tell the small, pure white circular object in the upper part of the image is definitely _not_ a bone.

On the bed, Hinata looks a little green around the edges of his pale face.

“The good news is that this is easily removed,” the doctor goes on, and Tobio feels some of the tension ease from his shoulders.

“Removed?” Hinata squeaks.

“Well technically because it’s small we could just leave you to pass it naturally, but considering the… _significance_ of the object in question, I’m guessing neither of you would rather we chose that option, hmm?” The doctor’s eyes twinkle with mischief and Tobio realises with a dawning horror just what he’s implying.

“No!" He and Hinata both blurt out in unison, both sounding equally revolted.

“I thought not! So, because you came here straight away, we’ve gotten lucky and the foreign body is still in your stomach, which makes things easier. Basically, what we’ll be doing is putting you under general anaesthesia so that you’ll be asleep and won’t feel a thing. And then we’ll insert a small camera down your oesophagus along with a special instrument to hook it out,” the doctor explains. “It’s called an endoscopy. Very simple, no surgery required. We’ll probably have you home by the morning if we don’t run into any complications!”

There were a lot of words there that Tobio didn’t really understand, and his head aches a bit with the information, but he sags a little in relief at hearing the positive outlook.

“So there’s no… cutting?” Hinata clarifies, still looking as queasy as Tobio is feeling.

“Not at all,” the doctor reassures. “The surgeon and anaesthetist should be by shortly to explain their plan in more detail to you. I believe they’re getting everything set up for you now so just try to relax until then. You’ll be in safe hands, I promise.”

They both thank the doctor and Tobio stands to open the door for him as leaves, with a small bow of gratitude.

The doctor claps a hand on Tobio’s shoulder before he steps fully into the hallway. “Don’t worry my boy, it’ll all turn out fine in the end. And, if I may, congratulations.” He gives Tobio a wink and a smile, and shuffles off down the hall.

Tobio closes the door after him and thunks his forehead against the faux wood. He can’t be _congratulated_, Hinata hadn’t even said yes.

* * *

The silence is painful.

Hinata’s lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling with a thunderous expression, while Tobio glares at the off-white linoleum floor, feeling himself get more and more tense and wound-up with every tick from the clock on the wall.

All he can think about is how at no point has Hinata said ‘yes’, or acknowledged the _proposal_ part of this whole scenario in any way, and the combination from the sheer irritation of being ignored plus the worry of being rejected is causing a steadily building pressure inside him. He wants to shout, storm off to vent his frustration and cry a little, maybe, but he can’t leave Hinata so he gives in and lets the last thread of control over his temper snap.

“It was supposed to be _romantic!_” He cries, gripping the fabric of his jeans over his knees.

“_Really?”_ Hinata snarls, finally turning to look at Tobio and acknowledging his existence. “_This_ is romantic? They’re going to shove a camera down my throat!”

Tobio winces and tries to not focus on how his stomach just flipped over in sympathy. “Well what kind of moron _eats_ the ring?! Haven’t you heard of _chewing?_”

“_You’re_ the idiot that put it in the food!” Hinata shouts back, sitting up abruptly in bed so he can lean forward and yell at Tobio properly. “Why couldn’t you just hold it out like a normal person?!”

“It was meant to be a surprise!”

“_Congratulations! I am surprised!”_

“I’m sorry, alright? I didn’t- I didn’t mean for you to _eat it_, obviously! But they’re going to fetch it out, so what’s the big deal?”

Tobio knows as soon as the words have left his mouth that they were definitely the wrong thing to say. Hinata’s face is bleached bone-white, slack in his shock before mottled, angry red blotches spread over his cheeks. His expression is… Tobio can’t quite place it – something between infuriated and shocked and also deeply upset. Tobio’s heart squeezes and he swallows roughly, but forces himself to keep Hinata’s gaze.

“What’s the big- the _big deal_ is that selection is coming up! Have you forgotten that, mister big shot?” Hinata shoots at him. Brown eyes are wide and angry and betrayed.

Tobio reels back a bit, thrown by this. Of course he hadn’t forgotten, how could he ever forget selection for the national team?

“What if this affects it?” Hinata demands, some of the anger in his face slipping away, steadily being replaced by something distressingly resembling panic. “What if something goes _wrong_ and I can’t play in time or I get delayed or-“

“Stop,” Tobio commands, launching out of his chair and placing both his hands on his partner’s shoulders to halt the increasing stream of panicked rambling.

Hinata does, closes his mouth so sharply his teeth clack, his shoulders rising and falling shakily under Tobio’s hands with his heaving breaths. He doesn’t look angry at all any more, his face crinkled and twisted with worry.

Tobio had felt a little guilty, before, in amongst the worry and the uncertainty, that he had been the cause of Hinata being here, but a part of him was still so incredulous Hinata had swallowed the ring he felt it wasn’t entirely his fault. But now, looking at his partner’s distraught face, he can see why Hinata was so angry, and the guilt increases tenfold. He wasn’t cross that he had eaten a foreign object, exactly, he was terrified it was going to affect his career.

To most people, maybe that would be an overreaction, but this Hinata Shouyou, who has fought and clawed for every inch, for every scrap of success he’s ever known, just to stand on an equal platform. To Hinata, any stall or delay is major problem, any reason why he can’t be at one hundred percent is a very real cause for him being benched.

Tobio feels Hinata has not needed to worry about this for a couple of years now, that he has stood amongst his peers and proven his worth as a player more than ten times over, and most of the time, Hinata doesn’t really worry at all. But then there are times, like now, when Hinata’s worries and insecurities bubble up, encompassing.

“There is absolutely no way they are not going to pick you, dumbass,” Tobio tells him firmly, leaning forward until his forehead is bumping against Hinata’s. “You’re just going to be asleep. You’re not having surgery, you’re going to wake up in a few hours and just come back home. It’s going to be fine. _You’re_ going to be fine. You’re going to wake up tomorrow and play volleyball like normal and no-one will none the wiser. I promise.”

“You can’t promise that,” Hinata mumbles after a long moment, his voice small. The creases have eased from his skin, however, and Tobio can see the smallest hint of a smile around the corners of his mouth.

“Well I just did, so too bad.”

Hinata hums quietly, before shuffling forward on the bed so he’s sitting on the edge of it, reaching out with sturdy arms and wrapping them around Tobio’s torso. Tobio breathes a sigh through his nose as his partner tucks his head under his chin and he gathers Hinata up in a tight hug.

“I’m still mad,” Hinata tells him, face buried in his clavicle.

“That’s fair,” Tobio says honestly, tilting his head down to rest his cheek in flyaway red hair. “I… I really _am_ sorry, Shouyou, I didn’t-“

“Didn’t mean to, I know,” Hinata says, and he doesn’t sound angry at all anymore. “It’s okay.”

“It isn’t, it was stupid,” Tobio admits, scrunching his eyes shut. “Sorry.”

“It was a bit. Why in the meat bun?” Hinata asks, but his voice is curious rather than challenging. At least he’s not chasing for an argument now.

“I told you,” Tobio grumbles into his hair. “It was meant to be-“

“Romantic?” Hinata finishes, leaning back just enough so he can look up to meet Tobio’s eyes. His mouth is definitely curling up at the corner now, small and sly and teasing and Tobio’s heart aches a little to see it. He feels like he hasn’t seen his boyfriend smile in hours - which is a travesty, considering Hinata is almost constantly smiling.

“It _was._”

“But you’re useless at romance, Kageyama.”

“I- okay, hang on, you don’t have to say it like that,” Tobio protests, frowning.

Hinata snorts, scooting back on the bed, out of Tobio’s embrace. Tobio mourns it for all of ten seconds until the redhead reaches out and grabs for his hands, linking his short, stubby fingers with Tobio’s much longer ones. “I_ like_ that you’re not romantic, idiot.”

“You… do.”

“Yeah! You’re just honest instead,” Hinata tells him, his face soft and open. The familiarity of the expression compared to the snarling anger from before makes Tobio’s throat squeeze. “You just come out and say things, it’s nice. So, really, why-” he makes a rotating motion with his hand, “all of... this?”

“Because…” Tobio starts, and then pauses, unsure how to phrase this. _‘I thought you were making a really romantic meal and didn’t want to lose so I thought I’d surprise you with a proposal’_ sounds monumentally stupid, and a bit childish, now he’s thinking about it. Hindsight really is a wonderful thing, why didn’t this occur to him two hours ago?

Hinata is still waiting patiently so Tobio starts with, “because it’s our… anniversary.”

A confused frown folds over Hinata’s brow. “… No it isn’t?”

“No, not… not that one. Of the day we met,” Tobio elaborates. Why is he pointing this out, doesn’t Hinata know this already?

“Huh?”

“The day we met,” Tobio says insistently. “It was today. Ten years ago.”

Hinata blinks at him, big brown eyes wide and baffled. Tobio can almost see the gears turning in his head, until eventually a spark of recognition lights up his face. “You mean… in middle school?”

Tobio nods.

Hinata stares him for a long time, completely silent and still, except for the rhythmic clenching of his fingers around Tobio’s. Tobio’s just starting to feel a bit concerned, because Hinata is never usually still for longer than a few seconds, even asleep, when the redhead suddenly squawks sharply and _loudly_ and Tobio nearly jumps a foot in the air.

“_Uwaaaaaaaaah! Kageyama!!”_

“_Good grief_… what?” Tobio grunts as he wills his heartrate to return to normal.

“We’ve known each other for ten years?” Hinata warbles. His eyes have gone big and shiny and a just a little bit watery.

“Uhh… yeah, didn’t know you that?”

“No! I didn’t! Wait, how did _you_ know that if I didn’t?”

“The… the volleyball journals. I was flipping through them earlier, and I’d written the date of our match in middle school…”

“You wrote about our match? I want to read that one! Actually, no, wait, fourteen-year-old-you was _mean_, maybe I don’t want to read it…”

Tobio feels a bit insulted by this so he diverts the topic, “so wait, hang on, what was dinner for then?”

“Dinner?”

“Yeah, you were making grilled beef, I know you have to go out and get stuff especially for that. That wasn’t anything… special?”

“The beef was on special,” Hinata says, looking incredibly amused and still a bit misty-eyed, before his expression morphs into another suspicious squint. “… Wait. Did you… did you go and buy a ring and, and do _all of this_ because you wanted to do something _better?_”

“Err…” Tobio stammers, suddenly frozen. “Well… Maybe? Sort of?” He starts, feeling his tongue trip over the words, a humiliated flush spreading over his face and down his neck. This is embarrassing. Hinata is starting to look deeply unimpressed. “But! But it wasn’t just that-“ he starts to protest, until the words freeze in his chest, and he drops his gaze to their linked hands, not wanting to look into Hinata’s disappointed face.

“I really did want to,” he insists quietly, the words muffled around the petulant pout forming on his still hopelessly red face. “I wanted to beat you at first and then it seemed like a good idea and… I _really_ did want to ask you.”

“What did you want to ask me, Tobio?” Hinata asks, voice soft. Tobio can't place the tone in it and he squirms uncomfortably.

This was not how he pictured saying this. It was supposed to be in the comfort of their living room, with Hinata looking stunned as Tobio plucks the ring from his fingers. Not in a small, cramped hospital room with Hinata in starchy pyjamas and the ring in his belly. He rubs his fingers over his partner’s where they’re still linked, across the horribly bare skin of Hinata’s left ring finger. His throat feels tight and swollen, and he has to get a few deep breaths in before it starts to loosen. It’s okay, Hinata hasn’t said no yet, he can do this. It’s just a question, right?

“Marry me,” Tobio blurts once his vocal chords agree to start working again. His heart hammers against his rib cage. Crap, that sounded like a demand. “Umm. Please?”

“_’Please’_,” Hinata wheezes, delighted, and Tobio sneaks a peek at his boyfriend just in time to catch the beginnings of a blindingly wide grin before small hands have abandoned his, grasping his lapels instead and then he’s being dragged forward until his mouth is mashed against Hinata’s.

_Well, okay, that’s definitely better than a no_, Tobio thinks as he tilts his head so their noses aren’t smooshed together, moving his hands from where they were squished in Hinata’s lap to splay them around his boyfriend’s back.

Hinata pulls away first, just a by a few centimetres, his giddy breaths mixing with Tobio’s. He’s too close for Tobio to make out what expression is on his face.

“Is that a yes?” Tobio asks, just to clarify, brushing the tip of his nose against the small freckles dusted over Hinata’s bridge.

Hinata laughs against him, their lips brushing. “Yes, yes, _yes_, of _course,_ you big, dumb, stupid idiot.” And then he closes the gap between them as Tobio starts to make a noise of protest.

Tobio pulls his boyfriend (_fiancé_) even closer until their torsos are pressed together and Hinata has to spread his legs a little on the bedspread. Sliding one hand up his back, Tobio buries his fingers in ginger hair to cradle the back of Hinata’s head. He’s just succeeded in coaxing Hinata’s mouth open when his partner draws back with a gasp.

“Okay, stop, stop, the doctors are gonna come in any minute, dummy.”

“Sorry,” Tobio murmurs, not really sorry at all, and tries to chase for another kiss.

“_Tobiooo_,” Hinata whines, turning his head with a huff of laughter and Tobio mouths over his ear instead. “Eww, stop, that’s gross.”

“I’m your fiancé, you’re not allowed to call me gross,” Tobio says, trying to poke his tongue down Hinata’s ear canal, earning a squeal and a peal of laughter. He smirks against Hinata’s temple, a big balloon of happiness growing in his chest.

He's changed his mind. This is the _best_ thing that’s ever happened to him. This is better than winning gold at the Olympics. This is almost better than _volleyball._

“I love you,” he murmurs against Hinata’s skin. It’s strange – sometimes he finds it awkward to say, and other times, like now, it’s the easiest thing in the world.

Hinata’s face goes all soft and warm, his eyes like sticky toffee. “I love you too. Even if you do try and give me lead poisoning.”

“Okay I did not buy you a platinum ring for you to accuse me of _lead poisoning_.”

* * *

It’s late morning by the time Tobio gets to take Hinata home.

When they crash into their bed (in just their underwear because neither of them could be bothered to change into pyjamas), Hinata immediately crawls over Tobio’s front like a red haired human duvet, draping himself over Tobio’s chest.

“I hope you know,” Hinata starts, before breaking off into a loud yawn, still tired and woozy from the anaesthetic. “I hope you know I’m going to tell everyone how you tried to poison me.”

Tobio loops one arm around his partner’s shoulders and drags him into a more comfortable spot on his chest so he can breathe easier. Hinata grunts and slots their legs together. “I hope you know everyone is gonna ask how you managed to swallow an entire ring without noticing,” he points out.

As Hinata contemplates this, Tobio reaches for his left hand and slides their fingers together. The cold ring of the metal, now safely on Hinata’s finger where it belongs, catches against Tobio’s skin and a wobbly smile spreads across his face as he remembers.

(Shortly after Hinata had woken up from the procedure, the overly friendly doctor had arrived, a small half-paper-half-plastic bag in his hand.

Tobio tilted his head in confusion until he realised the ring was inside it.

“Hello boys! Thought you’d want this back – we had it cleaned for you so it’s good as new!” The doctor had declared, presenting Tobio with the packet. “You’d never know where it’s been!”

Tobio had just about managed a mumbled thanks, wanting to die from embarrassment for what felt like the tenth time that day, and then sat there awkwardly with the packet in his fingers as the doctor stood there beaming. Next to him, Hinata swayed slightly as he tried to sit upright on the bed.

“Well!” The doctor clapped his hands together, having finally noticed the awkward atmosphere. “I’ll leave you to it. A nurse should be along when we feel you’re ready to be discharged. Congratulations!” He gave a hearty little wave as he finally left them in peace.

“He’s nice,” Hinata declared happily, before he leant forward, making a grabby motion at Tobio. “Lemme see!”

Tobio shot an arm out to catch Hinata’s shoulder before he faceplanted into the bedsheets. “Alright, fine! Sit back then, dumbass, geez…”

Hinata flopped back against the pillows and took the little packet with glee when Tobio handed it to him. He gazed at the ring through the clear plastic side before deciding that wasn’t good enough, apparently, and ripped it open.

Tobio had a brief, terrifying thought that Hinata was about to eat the ring all over again in his drugged-up state and was halfway out of his chair to prevent another tragedy when Hinata simply… slipped the ring onto his finger.

“It’s not slimy!” He announced to Tobio, thrusting his hand in his face. The ring was a little loose though, and it spun a little around Hinata’s finger.

Tobio stared at it, feeling a little war raging inside himself. It looked right, there on his partner’s finger, but…

“What?” Hinata asked, his head wobbling closer to Tobio’s.

“I wanted to put it on,” Tobio admitted, his lips pursing and cheeks staining pink.

Hinata blinked. “Oh! Okay!” He said, the most agreeable he’s ever been, and plucked the ring from his finger, plopping it in Tobio’s lap.

Tobio looked from the ring on his thigh and the hand Hinata had presented him with (flopped forward like a lady to a gentlemen expecting a kiss) and sighed. Feeling a bit stupid, he picked up the ring and cradled Hinata’s hand in is.

He slid the ring on, and had all of thirty seconds to admire it before he had to catch a woozy Hinata again, who had pitched too far forward with an excited squawk.)

“We’ll have to come up with a cover story,” Hinata decides sleepily against his chest, voice pitched low and heavy.

“Okay,” Tobio agrees, letting his eyes slide shut. “Make me sound cool.”

“I’m not a miracle worker.”

“_Oi_.”

“Hmm… Do I get to propose to you as well?”

“How does that work?” Tobio wonders.

Hinata doesn’t answer at first, snuffling sleepily. “Don’t you need a ring too? So I have to ask too right?” He asks eventually, muffling another yawn into Tobio’s sternum.

“If you want,” Tobio says, too tired to think on it more than that. He asked first anyway, so he still wins. He angles his head down as best he can and presses a kiss to Hinata’s hair. The nurse’s words from earlier float into his mind. “Shouyou… don’t put it in a glass.”

But Hinata is already asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> If you would like to come yell about Haikyuu with me, I am over on Twitter! @Emlee_J


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